Umbra and Lux
by IlluminatedWord
Summary: Heavenly Witch sequel. Yuugi, Atem, and the group make their way to a village to find a teacher for Yuugi, and help him master his unique magical abilities. Marik finds a teacher along the way, but Ryou doesn't trust him. Later, with.the stress of his training, will Yuugi and Atem's relationship crumble, or will it just become stronger? (YxA, slight RxA at beginning) YAOI


**Finally here! Even I can only procrastinate for so long. The Heavenly Witch sequel is here! I'd like to thank everyone who read, reviewed, followed, favorited, whatever. THANK YOU ALL! There was like 175 reviews O_o Wow. I don't know all you, but I like you anyway :)**

**Really sorry about the kind of abrupt ending last time, and taking so long to get this up, by the way ( ._.)**

**I'm not going to directly answer any of the last chapter reviews, but know that they are of course appreciated. So, anyway, let us proceed with the story!**

**Disclaimer: l don't own Yugioh!**

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Yuugi set his pack down and leaned gratefully against the tree. He pulled out the map and saw they still had quite a ways to travel before they reached their destination, a small village on the outskirts of Yami's old one. If their pace so far was any indication, he, Marik, Ryou, and Atem still had just over two days before they reached it.

A man with bright crimson eyes and hair mimicking Yuugi's came over and sat down next to him, setting down his pack as well. He draped an arm around Yuugi and looked at the map over his shoulders. "How much longer, love?" Atem asked.

Yuugi sighed and leaned his head on Atem's chest. "About two days. Where are the others?"

"Right here!" Ryou came out from behind a bush, dragging an irritated Marik behind him. Marik broke free and ran behind the tree where Yuugi and Atem were resting. Ryou sighed and grinned. Yuugi looked curiously at him, and Ryou explained. "He thought he had an invisibility trick down, so he followed me to try and scare me."

"What gave him away?" Atem asked.

Ryou giggled. "He hasn't learned how to walk silently. It's not even a magic thing. He's just so loud."

Marik peeked out and frowned at Ryou. "You didn't have to actually tell them. I DO try, it's just...hard." Ryou rolled his eyes with a smile and took a seat on the other side of Yuugi. Marik, still cautious, came over and sat next to Atem. Yuugi looked up at the sky, where the sun was already getting lower in the sky. He picked up his bag and passed around the canteen.

"Did either of you actually find a stream?" Yuugi asked Ryou and Marik. "Isn't that why you went looking in the first place?"

Ryou nodded. "Yes, we did. I'll go ahead and fill up the canteen." He stood up when it got passed around to him and walked back the way he'd come from.

Yuugi took a deep breath and leaned his head on Atem's shoulder. "Do you think it's about time to call it a day?"

Atem nodded, and adjusted himself so that Yuugi could rest. "Yeah, I think so."

Early that morning they'd left from Yami's house, carrying supplies for the trip. Ellen had warned them that she didn't know how long a straight trip to the village would be, so they'd gotten enough food for up to three days, if they stretched it. They had started their journey ready to go, but they'd quickly tired.

Now the sun was setting, so Atem and Marik set up camp for the night as Yuugi went to find Ryou. He followed their trail of bruised foliage until he found Ryou kneeling by a stream, filling up the canteen.

Yuugi tapped his shoulder, and Ryou jumped, sloshing out half of the water in the canteen. "Sorry," Yuugi laughed.

Ryou smiled back. "It's alright." He finished refilling it. "Sorry I was taking a long time. The creek just looks so pretty with the setting sun making it all different colours." The rapids, where Ryou had gotten the water from, distorted the pinkish sunlight, but it was still beautiful. The stiller water was more reflective and showed the clouds along with the colourful sky.

"Yeah, it is," Yuugi agreed. Ryou stood up and the pair admired the water for another moment before they started back to the rest of their group.

They returned to find that Atem and Marik had already set up camp, and a different man was standing near them. He had dirty white, greyish hair which clashed with his tanned skin He wore a red robe, and as Ryou and Yuugi got closer, they saw that he had a scar under one eye. He and Marik were speaking, while Atem was half-glaring at the stranger, having already decided his opinion on the guy.

"Hello," Ryou said, drawing everyone's attention. "Who is this?" he asked, motioning to new person. He set the now full canteen on the ground next to him.

"Akefia," Marik answered happily. "He's a dark witch, and he said he might be able to be my teacher! Plus, he could really help me get that invisibility spell down."

Yuugi smiled. "Hi there. I'm Yuugi, and this is Ryou. I assume you're already acquainted with Marik and Atem. Are you traveling?"

Akefia nodded. "Yes, I'm just passing through. I've taught other students before, and so long as they have potential, I'm glad to do so. And I would like to see who else could master invisibility. Plus, I'm not too shabby at magic, if I do say so myself."

"But," Atem began, confused, "if you're traveling, how come you don't have any equipment or food? How long have you been traveling?"

"Quite a long time." Akefia smirked. "And what do you think that invisibility spell is for?" He laughed at their shocked faces and Atem's "I knew it" scowl. "Oh, come on. It's not like I could force anyone else to become a thief."

Ryou frowned. "It's almost...contagious, though. You see others doing it, and you'd want to try. Of course, you don't have to. But once you do start stealing, it's really hard to stop. Even if it's not necessary, it has an appeal to it, just the fact that you can take whatever you want, whenever you want, and you know you won't get caught. You know you shouldn't do it, but you want to do it, just because you can."

There was a long silence. Ryou saw his friend's gazes on him, and felt his face heat up in response.

Akefia suddenly chuckled, moving toward Ryou. "I thought you looked like him! You must be at least loosely related." He looked at the man with amusement still in his eyes. "You must be related to Bakura!"

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Actually, yeah, I am. My father. What did you know about him?"

"Why, he was a great thief!" Akefia said. "Never met him myself, but I did look up to him. Though, I didn't know he had a son. How old are you?"

Ryou bristled. "I don't see how that's any of your business, but if you must know, I'm nineteen. How old are you, then?"

"Huh, you look a lot younger than that. I'm twenty-one, kid."

"'Kid'?" Ryou squeaked, which didn't help his case much. He cleared his throat quietly. "I'm not a KID. You're only two years older than me. And wipe that smirk of your face!"

Marik was surprised at Ryou. He was usually pretty easy-going, so it was weird seeing him get so worked up over this Akefia, who really seemed to instinctively know how to push Ryou's buttons. Maybe he wasn't the best choice for a teacher...

Atem spoke up. "It's no use, Ryou. I think it's a permanent thing for him. It never goes away."

Yuugi looked at the two white-haired males worriedly. "Ryou," he said, placing a hand on his friend's arm. "Akefia is just here to teach Marik, right? No need to get so wound up."

Biting back the urge to inform them, preferably loudly, that he wasn't at all wound up, Ryou nodded, still glaring at that jerk, who just stared right back at him.

Yuugi sighed. "Er, Akefia? So, what, do you just take Marik with you?"

Akefia shrugged. "As long as the he wants to go, then yes, basically. The kid would be traveling with me until, or if, I decided to settle down."

"I'm nineteen too!" Marik said indignantly. "No need to call me kid, especially if we're going to be traveling together. I'm not helpless, and I can already do some magic."

"But you still have more to learn, otherwise you wouldn't need a teacher," Akefia pointed out. "There's always more to learn." He grinned deviously before disappearing. Marik blinked and looked around as the man was suddenly gone. Oh, he knew what he wanted to learn first.

Everyone was looking around for the thief. Well, everyone except Ryou. Marik looked at his friend. The guy was just standing there with his eyes closed.

Ryou's eyes suddenly snapped open. He spun around and elbowed the air, which "Oomphed!" in response. Ryou chuckled. "You're almost as loud as Marik, 'master thief.'"

Marik rolled his eyes. "So I'm actually nearly silent for all intents and purposes? Gee, thanks for the confidence boost on that matter, then, telling me how loud I am."

Akefia reappeared, dusting off his cloak with an exaggerated look of hurt on his face. "What was that for? I was just waking around. No need to be so violent, kid!"

Rubbing his temples, Ryou sighed, ignoring the comment. "Do we all still have our stuff? I wouldn't put it past this guy to have planned this the whole time; get us comfortable, 'demonstrate' some trick, then make off with half of our supplies."

While everyone checked their person, Akefia pouted. "I'm hurt, Ryou! Do you really have so little faith in me? That's just rude."

"You have the nerve to talk to me about rude?" Ryou mumbled, checking to make sure he still had everything. When he was done, he sighed and looked at Marik. "Do you really want to go with him?"

Marik shrugged. "I might have to. Who knows the next time we'll run into a dark witch? And there's virtually no chance we'll find another who's a guy."

"I agree with Ryou," Atem said. "But, you're right. He might be the only chance you'll get for a teacher, if that term even really applies here."

Yuugi turned to Ryou. "You really don't trust this guy?" Ryou grunted, and Yuugi nodded and turned to Akefia. "Did you steal anything from us?"

Akefia grinned. "I'll admit, the thought did cross my mind." Well, he wasn't lying about that.

"But did you actually take anything while you were invisible just now?" Yuugi pressed.

A struggle briefly flew across Akefia's face before it again became a mischievous mask. "Who could be sure about that?" he shrugged. He pulled a canteen out of his cloak and took a sip, like he was mulling over an answer.

Ryou gasped and grabbed the water from Akefia. "I see how you get your supplies, then." He plugged back up the water, grumbling, while Akefia laughed.

"No harm done." He walked slowly away from the ticked off Ryou. "If anything, I taught you to keep your valuables close."

Marik grinned. "Come on, Ryou, he's right. It was kinda funny. He basically confessed. And I'm sure he would've given it back even if you hadn't noticed. So really, yeah, no harm done."

Yuugi cautiously approached Ryou. He leaned in and whispered to him, "He's been honest with us so far. I think he only steals when it's a necessity. I trust him."

Grudgingly, Ryou sighed. "Okay, fine. You didn't do anything wrong...I guess you and Marik had better get going, then?"

"Hell no!" Akefia shouted, shocking them. "I don't like traveling at night, and it basically is. We have maybe half an hour of daylight, if we're lucky. I'll just stay with you all for the night."

Atem and Ryou groaned, but they couldn't just send him away. Yuugi and Marik were more okay or indifferent to the idea.

Yuugi designated the sleeping arrangements. They only had four sleeping bags, so he and Atem would just have to share. They only had two tents, however, so that would be a bit awkward. They eventually decided that since Marik was to be leaving with Akefia soon, he may as well get used to sleeping near him now.

The moon was rising as Yuugi crawled into the sleeping bag that he and Atem would share. Ryou was already in his and was fast asleep. Thankfully, it was summer, so they didn't need any extra blankets. Yuugi closed his eyes and quickly almost fell asleep.

He blinked his eyes open groggily when he felt someone climb into the bag next to him. "Sorry," Atem whispered, seeing Yuugi's eyes open. "Just go on back to sleep."

Yuugi smiled, then frowned, still half asleep. "Why are you wearing a shirt? I prefer it when you sleep shirtless."

Atem chuckled. "Really? I apologize; I'll fix that right away." Yuugi hummed as his problem was remedied, and immediately smuggled into Atem's chest. "Better?" Atem asked.

"Much," Yuugi breathed. "'Night, 'Tem..."

Kissing Yuugi's forehead and wrapping his arms around around him, Atem whispered back, "Good night, love."

Silence fell over the whole camp as everyone quickly fell asleep. Well, almost everyone.

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**Haha...don't kill me *ducks* How was the first chapter, guys? These first few will be the journey, but soon we'll get to Yuugi's training. Sound good?**

**Again, you're all awesome :) I apologize in advance, as may it be a while before the next chapter can be posted**.

**Anyway, tell me what you thought, and have a great day guys! :)**


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